Baked Lemony Salmon Steak

Baked Lemony Salmon Steak7 March 2011

Growing up in the Philippines for the first 18 years of my life, I’ve grown to love fish, even more so now that I am older. I also try to eat fish at least 2-3 times per week. It's not only easy to cook (normally minutes) and it’s very healthy too. And the best part, I love going to the Korean Seomun Fish and Seafood Market almost every weekend since I moved here in Dague. Not only do I enjoy seeing all the different types of fish and seafood, my mind also goes raising in coming up with some recipe ideas. Almost 90% of my fish recipes are grilled, baked, or blacken in an iron skillet. I just think that it is healthier than fried, and the cleanup is so much easier.

So last night, I made my Baked Lemony Salmon Steak. It only took 15 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook the salmon steak. And the best part, salmon steak was moist and perfect. You don’t want to keep the salmon steak in the oven too long because it will dry up and the flesh will get tougher. I don’t know about you, but I love it when the fish is cooked lightly and the flesh is soft and totally moist.

I first marinated the salmon steak for an hour using the spices listed below. I love fresh herbs and spices, but for this particular dish, I used dried spices and combined them to make a rub-like mixture and then poured a little of extra virgin olive oil and covered the dish with a plastic wrap to seal in all the good spices with the salmon steak. Then I preheated the oven, set the temperature to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, 15 minutes prior to taking the marinated salmon steak out. When I finally unsealed the cover, all I could smell was the good refreshing scent that was infused completely on the salmon steak. My mouth started watering. HaHaHa... Then I put the salmon steak on the center of a lined and uncovered baking dish (I always use aluminum foil to line my baking dish, and once your salmon steak is done, easy clean up).


Ingredients for Marinate:
1/4 tsp coarse salt (I used Kosher salt of course in all of my cooking)
2 tsp dried lemon powder or juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
2 tsp dried thyme leaves
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground rosemary
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (this is optional, I like a little heat)
1 tsp light brown sugar (it gives the salmon a little crust on the outside)
1/4 cup of good extra virgin olive oil


To make it even better, I chose to serve my Baked Lemony Salmon Steak with brown rice and blanched asparagus. (I like the crunchiness of the asparagus and the brown rice goes very well with the salmon steak.)


Of course, it was a very lovely dinner! ….Burp Burp….


I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. I will definitely make this again.


Bon Appétit!

Everyone Needs Someone

╔══════════════ ೋღ☃ღೋ ══════════════╗
❤ Everyone Needs Someone ❤
(Author Unknown)

People need people and friends need friends
And we all need love for a full life depends
Not on vast riches or great acclaim,
Not on success or on worldly fame,
But just in knowing that someone cares
And holds us close in their thoughts and prayers-
For only the knowledge that we're understood
Makes everyday living feel wonderfully good,
And we rob ourselves of life's greatest need
When we "lock up our hearts" and fail to heed
The outstretched hand reaching to find
A kindred spirit whose heart and mind
Are lonely and longing to somehow share
Our joys and sorrows and to make us aware
That life's completeness and richness depends
On the things we share with our loved ones and friends.
❤
╚══════════════ ೋღ☃ღೋ ══════════════╝

Rosemary Balsamic Chicken

I always appreciate a good balsamic reduction, which is basically a sauce of aged balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and any leftover red wine. It does have a strong smell while cooking but in the end…it’s all worth it. Tonight, I made a lovely and easy Rosemary Balsamic Chicken & steamed potatoes. It was easy to make, especially with my portable indoor grill George Foreman. Oh yeah, never ever ever opt to just use dried herbs. There is nothing better than the smell of fresh rosemary (my favorite herb). I highly suggest buying the living herbs that you can just keep in water in your window sill. They last forever and make your kitchen smell good, not to mention fresh basil (my second favorite herb) keeps those little bugs away that always seem to eventually be flying around your bananas.

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breast halves
8 cloves of minced garlic
2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
4 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Directions: In small bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken; beat with wire whisk until well blended. Place chicken in single layer in shallow glass baking dish. Spoon marinade evenly over chicken. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to marinate. Meanwhile, heat grill. When ready to grill, remove chicken from marinade. Place chicken on the grill over medium heat. Cover grill and cook 10-12 minutes or until chicken is fork-tender and juices run clear.

Sauce:

1/2 cup of good aged balsamic vinegar
4 tbs of brown sugar
1/4 cup of leftover red wine

• Combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Let it simmer and reduce. Pour over grilled chicken before serving.

FOCUS ON THE PRESENT

If you focus on the present, your life will be constantly renewed. The present moment is the only time that is eternal. It never dies, nor can it be forgotten. Therefore, happiness in the present can never be taken away from you. It will free you from the snare of time, which brings about suffering through thought, evaluation, and analysis. Being fully in the present, you experience the timeless. In the timeless, you find your true self.

DETOXIFY YOUR LIFE

Your natural state is one of joy, peace, and spontaneous fulfillment. When you are not experiencing this state, some contamination is present in your body or mind. Contamination can be the result of toxic emotions, habits, and relationships, as well as toxic substances. All of these are rooted frist in the mind as the result of conditioning. Therefore, the solution to toxicity in your life lies at the level where the mind has lost its natural state. Such conditioning begind early in life. The first symptoms are toxic emotions like anger, anxiety, guilt, and shame. As one grows, this is followed by poor self-esteem, toxic relationships, and lifestyle imbalances. In order to detoxify your life, you need to learn how to reverse this entire range of conditioning.


I recommend these seven steps to rid yourself of a toxin by:

(1) Take responsibility for your present response.

(2) Witness what you are feeling.

(3) Label your feeling.

(4) Express what you feel.

(5) Share what you feel.

(6) Release the toxic feeling through ritual and positive mindset.

(7) Celebrate the release and move on.

The main thing is to move from the first state to the next. Emotional conditioning is where it begins, always! Therefore every time you escape your old conditioning, even in tiny ways that may not seem that significant, you are forming more efficient neutral networks in your brain. In plain language, you are becoming clearheaded. When you start to feel emotionally free because you are no longer holding on, you have opened the space to detoxify your life in general. This new way of feeling has limitless possibilities. That's the difference between being conditioned and being unconditioned ~ in the latter state you give yourself so much more of life's infinite potential. In the end, there is only one toxin. It's whatever robs you of your true self. Your true self breathes in comples freedom of choice. Every day it grows toward untold possibilities. When you finally become free of all conditioning, you will be true and be purified at the same time. More than ever, you will find that you want simplicity in your life, because happiness is simple.

Find True Self Esteem

True self-esteem is not the same thing as improving your self-image. Self-image results from what other people think of you. The true self lies beyond image. It can be found at a level of existence that is independent of the good and bad opinions of others. It is fearless. It has infinite worth. When you shift your identity from your self-image to your true self, you will find happiness that no one can take away from you.

My Shoes

ACCEPT IT

ACCEPT IT

by Ella M.

To accept

what has been

what IS

and what will be,

To be able to stand

immovable

and unshakable

as a mighty rock

that does not complain

nor wince out loud,

To be able to accept everything

and still stand,

is to truly possess

great power.

It is when things

have already been counted as lost

that all things rise yet again

to be gained.

Therefore I Exist

We are radically free and free will is infinite. We will never be able to explain our actions according to human nature. Our choices constitute our values. Every choice we make will have an effect on our lives in a good or a bad way. A person has total control over his/her life and about who he/she will become. There is no limitation to what we can grow to be. I believe anyone can achieve whatever they want by creating that image about themselves and going after their goals. We can do anything that we really want. Freedom is infinitive. Subjectivity in that man/woman is nothing else, but what he/she makes of himself/herself. This is supported by the idea that existence proceeds essence. We existed first, encounters life in the world, and we define ourselves at the end. We will only exist when we know and what plans to be. Thus, we are in total control of ourselves and we put our entire responsibility for our existence upon ourselves. What do we really know for sure or things with absolute certainty? In order to find certainty, you must be able to rule out all ideas that have doubts and work only with premises that are beyond doubt. If you try to doubt everything that you can, everything that you can’t doubt must be certain. We can’t verify that something do EXIST or is REAL. Simply because we are having an experience that makes us BELIEVE its so. Moreover, our senses and our power of reasoning are not enough. We might have ideas that might not be true, or not even be real, but the proposal of GOD must exist because HE is a perfect being, therefore he must exist to be relied upon as our source of knowledge. Only thing that you can’t doubt is that you are having certain experiences and thoughts. Therefore, this is a proof of existence. Additionally, you can’t doubt that you actually exist because if you didn’t exist, you wouldn’t be able to have those thoughts. Hence...I think, I speak, therefore…. I EXIST!

Prayer: Developing Healthy Friendships

Father, help me to meet new friends - friends who will encourage me. May I find in these friendships the companionship and fellowship You have ordained for me. I know that You are my source of love, companionship, and friendship. Your love and friendship are expressed through my relationship with You and members of the Body of Christ.

According to Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so friends sharpen the minds of each other.” As we learn from each other, may we find a worthy purpose in our relationships. Keep me well-balanced in my friendships, so that I will always please You rather than pleasing other people.

I ask for your divine connections - good friendships ordained by You. Thank you for the courage and grace to let go of detrimental friendships. I ask and receive, by faith, discernment for developing healthy relationships. Your Word says that two are better than one, because if one falls, there will be someone to lift that person up.

Father, You know the hearts of people, so I won’t be deceived by outward appearances. Bad friendships corrupt good morals. Thank you for quality friends who help me build a stronger character and draw me closer to You. Help me be a friend to others and to love my friends at all times. I will laugh with those who laughs. I will rejoice with those who rejoice. I will weep with those who weep. Teach me what I need to know to be a quality friend.

Develop me in a fun personality and a good sense of humor. Help me to relax around people and to be myself - the person You created me to be. Instruct my heart and mold my character, that I may be faithful and trustworthy over the friendships You are sending into my life.

“Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
Thank you Lord that I can entrust myself and my need for friends into Your keeping. I submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, in the name of JESUS….AMEN